#every once in a while i just have to vent about this character to air out my frustrations

[mikakuna]

actually the thing that pisses me off when fandom talks about the titans tower incident isn't even just that people wildly misinterpret/overreact to it, but that they only care about it because it happened to tim

half the other unhinged shit jason has done towards heroes (beautiful and spectacular) is like. never brought up. the titans tower incident is just tim fans' way of angsting up their blank canvas

[fallenneziah]

How they act with a passenger princess reader.

Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Bumblebee (no Arcee because she has no passenger seat) /Megatron, Knockout, shockwave, Starscream (Except Soundwave because unfortunately you would not fit)

Cw: Slight spicy talk? Suggestive? (Barely) I know I didn't get all the characters. This came to me like an hour ago and my dumbass fingers make it hard to type so I apologize.

Optimus doesn't at all mind. So long as his interior stays clean and you're not laying on his horn every five minutes, he hasn't run into any troubles with you in his cabin. He rather enjoys when you relax and kick your feet up on the dash, getting all comfy.

"Are you comfortable?" He'd ask while his tires rumble down the road. You melt into the heated seat and glide your hand over the dividing dash between yourself and the driver's seat. "Couldn't be comfier, Prime."

This makes Optimus incredibly happy. He enjoys knowing you like to relax in his cabin. He enjoys knowing you'd rather sit back and let him take full reign. Not like he wouldn't have it anyway.

Occasionally he'd even treat you. "You may eat, but refrain from getting anything in my flooring. It's... Uncomfortable."

Oh happy little you, that little smile while you eagerly shoved fries in his mouth while careful of his dash and other sensitive areas which you wouldn't desire fast food residue to reside.

And what's a little teasing? Without an eye on the wheel or the instincts to boot, you could easily mess around with him. Whether it's a hand placed firmly on a well oriented joystick or brushing over the fans of his dash. All the little ways that made the cabin rumble and shake briefly.

So silent, but ever so telling. He enjoys his little passenger princess. His only passenger princess.

You're wrong to assume you have any other choice but to be a passenger princess. Ratchet doesn't let anybody sit in the driver's seat. No grimy human hands on his steering wheel.

He forbids any fast food in his cabin, even if he feels like treating you. The most he's ever let you get away with was your water bottle or a well concealed smoothie.

He constantly is reminding you not to mess with the buttons inside the ambulance. And you always tease him, rubbing your foot against the underside of the glove compartment. "Aw, what's wrong doc, a girl can't have a little fun??"

He'd huff, warm air flaring out of his vents across the span of the cabin. "You'd do well to sit back and be quiet. We're almost there."

You'd pout, curling up in the cabin. "Ratchet..." Dragging your finger along the divider of the two seats. Ratchet would remain quiet, although the brief flare in the rumble of his engine spoke volumes. Damn you little human.

"Just sit still. All I ask."

"Yes sir, doctor."

He will never admit the amount of hot air that briefly left his fans. The rest of the drive he kept the heated seat on for you, making sure to ease you into sitting still for him while he brought you home.

Does the occasional fry or sauce packet get lost in his cabin and joints? Yep. Does he care? Nah! Eat as much as you want in his cabin and he won't stop you. As long as you're having fun.

The only thing he's slightly sensitive about is the radio. Once you're besties though he has no problem with you curling up your feet and taking over the tunes.

He'd be lying if he didn't enjoy the little wiggle you did in the seat when a good song came on. He'd remember it. He'd remember the way you moved to each song. It's something he can't help but notice.

He'd always beep quietly, almost a drawn out sigh he couldn't help when he heard you sing along without a care to watch the road, knowing he had the wheels. (Literally)

He would sometimes beep along and enjoy the way it encouraged you. Your hand gliding over his glove compartment and made his spark throb and pound. His enjoy roaring against the road in delight to be spending such time with you.

"Having fun 'Bee??" You smiled softly, hearing him chirp and whir back. "Yeah, I am too."

He is always willing to kill time on the road for you. For... One reason or another. That isn't important, his only desire is to be out there with you.

He literally drives Miko to and from all over Nevada. I don't think he's the least bit worried about you.

But unlike how Miko sits in the back.. you sit in the front. It feels so, in a way, intimate. You're in his dash, you're in his space. You recline the seat and relax knowing you're surrounded by a thick metal powerhouse.

Your hand wanders the dash or the seat. Sometimes spending extra time fiddling with the little nodes of his around you like the window or the throttle stick.

It grinds his gears in the best way. You're constantly laying it on thick with the praise for some reason, and Bulkhead isn't in the season to change that.

"You wanting something to eat?"

"Whatever you say goes, big guy." You pat the dash with an extra roughness than usual, making him tense a little. "Right... Right."

You know he likes it. He likes having you so close, feeling you so close to him. And in a way, that's your seat. He's sold in his mind, you belong there. Take your seat princess, it's all yours.

Now, technically your first time as his passenger princess you happened to be duct taped but who's really counting right?? You didn't feel very princess in the moment. Unfortunately, despite their intimidation tactics you've made yourself right at home now.

I'm assuming his cabin may have 2 seats. He doesn't let you sit in the front. One because he gets that seat and two because you don't get to see the view because fuck you.

He would rather you be a comfortable and safe princess than a dead one. Because what's a dead human to him, right? Pretty fucking useless.

Just.. don't mess with the buttons. Oh Primus don't mess with the buttons.

"Hey Megs?"

"What??" He grumbled, annoyed with answering all your idiotic questions. "What's this for?" You brushed your fingers over the switch, feeling his jets almost stop working. "Do not touch. Hands to yourself."

You pouted, slumping back in his seat. "I don't like flying... There's nothing to do."

Megatron grumbled in annoyance. Of all the little fleshies he had to deal with, Primus had to give him this one. Granted there's probably worse. "Hands to yourself, touch anything more and I'll cut your little hand off."

"Sounds like someone's sensitive~" You smirk. It grinds Megatron's gears, but alas, you aren't wrong... And for some odd, blasted reason, he doesn't mind. Do whatever you damn well please, really.

Don't scratch the interior and get comfortable for the ride princess. He thinks he's coined the term but really he's just a good 'con turned 'bot that loves to show the human some style.

Get your feet off his dash. Like now. No more.

He will let you do whatever you want but do not muck up, mess up or any other 'up' in his cabin. He will gut you and then throw you in the sewer. But that's only after a few warnings... Right??

"Knockout... I gotta stretch, we've been driving for hours." You huff and whine, the cramped little car getting to you.

"Alright alright, let me pull over." He would sigh, feeling how you tense up and stretch in the chair as best you could. Until you make it to the side of the road and you can get out and stretch.

"Being a princess is so hard, isn't it, love?" He teases you in mock concern.

"Sorry I have muscles, unlike you big boy." He huffed when you kicked his tire, and then went rather quiet the rest of the drive.

Big tank! Big tank! Big tank!!

You are the luckiest, even if Shockwave doesn't reciprocate your feelings.

"Illogical..." He'd grumbled as you relaxed inside the nice space. Kicking your legs up and leaning back, knowing you're in a fortified Decepticon bunker. Nothing can get you in here, no sir.

"So Shockwave, what's it like being absolutely massive??" You asked, patting the side of the interior.

Shockwave would only huff. "Do not move from your seat."

"We've got a long way to go and this thing isn't exactly F1... So, wanna talk about Cybertron?"

"No. Be quiet. You are comfortable, that is enough for humans to shut up."

"Who told you that? I could get bored?"

Shockwave is quiet. Granted those humans he experimented on may have only been loud because they were uncomfortable... And being experimented on.

"Nevermind. Sit down, and be quiet."

"Fine... Whatever you say, chief."

You'd honestly rather fly with Megatron. Or hanging onto Soundwaves fins as you flap in the wind at full speed. He's so bitchy. He only ever wants to talk about Megatron. He doesn't care that you sit in his front seat, just don't touch anything and sit still.

You'd listen to him ramble on and on like you're besties. You'd slump back, definitely not taking a well deserved nap as he trauma dumps his entire Cybertronian life onto your little innocent ears.

"Very interesting Starscream..." You mutter, dragging your finger along the dash panels. That makes him stop. "What are you doing??"

"What? I'm listening." Am not.

"No. Stop that. Put your arms down."

You huff, feeling the throttle of his jets increase, so you continue the motion. "I don't think I will. After all... I am the passenger."

[raitonsfw]

Hello, can I request headcanons of Tamaki with a gn reader who often feels very lonely, and whose love languages are quality time, physical touch & words of affirmation? (I'm sorry if this is too sad or too much. You don't have to write this if you don't want to <3)

synopsis: a sfw requested variety piece of the love languages of tamaki amajiki with a gn! reader.

warnings: gn!reader, love languages (words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time), bouts of loneliness, some sadness, talks of dates and days off, a cute lil kiss, tamaki and reader are together in this (i hope that's okay!), tamaki works with fatgum at the agency alot, mirio togata mention!

a/n: this lifted my spirits more than you'll ever know (i got so teary-eyed writing these cute lil love languages and my life's been so full of love lately, so it was even more meaningful writing these headcanons!) wc: 800ish. m.list

divider credit: @benkeibear & @firefly-graphics

•┈••✦ tamaki would always be busy, but he would try his best to make time for you– whether it’d be a day off to relax in the dorms with you or to go out on a quiet date and shop some with you. he’d definitely use that time to make sure you’re feeling loved and taken care of, holding your every word so attentively and letting you vent if need be.

•┈••✦ when he’d come home late, tamaki would be so tired from his missions but he’d still have enough energy to kiss you goodnight and snuggle beside you in bed. the endearing feeling of him pressed up next to you made you feel all warm and cozy and sometimes he’d even wrap his arm around you. no words would really have to be spoken, just small intimacies to let you know he was still there with you. 

•┈••✦ sometimes when he noticed your seclusion creeping up your demeanor, he’d sit by you and pull you into an awkward embrace– hoping to ward off some of the darkness that resided in your head. his hands would immediately flatten against the small of your back and you’d feel the small circles that he massaged into it subconsciously; a reminder that he genuinely means to show affection even if it doesn’t quite come out the right way. 

•┈••✦ he’s normally not one to be very vocal about things, but every once in a while, when you’re feeling down– his voice would ring through the air with a quiet affirmation of ‘you’re so good to me, i don’t know how i’d get by without you being here,’ or a gentle ‘you mean a lot to me, even if i don’t say it often– just needed to let you know, y/n.’ you’d chalk it up to mirio giving him the motivation (courage more like) to say those sweet things, but it still made you all teary-eyed. 

the dorms seemed lonely nowadays, with tamaki joining fatgum on his missions. it wasn’t like he could help it, the agency he worked for was very busy with missions and you’d often get trapped in a sense of longing whenever he had to leave you behind due to an occurrence happening in another district. 

the sofa you sat on had room for two– but it was only occupying the space, your arms folding against your knees as you curled in on yourself. tamaki, of course, had a mission and you didn’t know if he was going to be back anytime soon so you decided to just order in and watch your favorite show for a while; though the television just felt like static to your dulled mind. 

you didn’t know when you fell asleep, maybe it was when a character on your show had been given a hug goodbye or when the moon hung high in the sky, the stars bright from the big window that sat across from you. a soft hand lulled you from your sleep and you opened your eyes groggily– being met with tamaki sitting in front of you with a small smile, his head slightly tilted.

“tamaki…” you said groggily, sitting up and rub the sleep out of your eyes. you didn’t know if you were still dreaming or not, his face a little blurry from the dazed interaction. his fingers lightly caressed the back of your arm, careful not to be too rough with you as he leaned in for a greeted kiss. 

“i got off early…” he said, a hush to his voice that made you calm; it wasn’t often that he’d wake you up like this. normally, he’d let you sleep but maybe he sensed you were a bit out of sorts. “i’m also taking a day off tomorrow.” 

you looked at him properly before registering his words– he was still in his pro hero uniform, the violet visor lifted up to headband against the front of his hair and his ears tinted pink as he looked away from you towards the television. his eyes darted back towards you quickly when you opened your mouth to speak, a furrowed look overtaking your features. 

his heart raced at your worried expression, maybe he should’ve explained more– “it’s not because i got hurt or anything! i just haven’t seen you much and i wanted to spend the day with you.”

and always, without fail; when you were at your lowest, the isolation dissipated as tamaki took your hand in his to soothe you. his own nervousness would often mingle with yours, unsure of what to do besides hold you steady in his arms– but this time it seemed to come naturally as he pulled you closer into his space. 

“sometimes i feel bad that i’m always away from you– but i promise i’m going to make sure you’re never alone.”

taglist: @classyempathmongercloud | @rubyparsonx

[blternative]

The Captain isn't exactly free of blame either, I feel like that gets lost a bit as you play and get sucked into Jimmy's mental breakdown at the end. He was aware that Anya was pregnant by Jimmy through means that weren't consensual, knew that she wanted to use the gun to protect herself from him but resorted to hiding it after finding that she couldn't use it because she didn't have the proper authority to get the code to unlock it but realized Jimmy would be able to.

Granted, Curly was in a bad position for the issue from the beginning, he's the only source of authority on the ship and the ship as a whole would've suffered from being down one member but he doesn't do anything to protect Anya, his solution is to talk things out with Jimmy then think of a further solution together, not pull rank and put him in whatever their version of jail would've been on the ship (probably just stuffing them in a cryo pod until they reach their destination). Loyalty to his friend blinded him to the safety of his entire crew and he wanted to keep tensions as low as possible, even when that friend was threatening to take him down with him if he wasn't protected or staging a murder-suicide so no one would know what happened.

Even with Jimmy dangling the threat of Curly's career being in ruins once the news is reported, Curly doesn't stop him, he only slows him down at best and even that doesn't work, Jimmy proceeds to then crash the ship in an effort to completely get away with his crime(s) at the expense of a few lives. Curly gets mangled beyond recognition, unable to do the most basic of actions on his own, and is forced to spend several months in utter agony while watching his crew break down and die or get seriously injured in front of him. He sees everyone die, or the process of their death, except Jimmy, who gets to kill himself out of Curly's view as the stasis activates and Curly freezes. But Jimmy fixes it! He saves Curly and is a hero!

Except, why would a defunct company bother wasting what little funds they have left searching for a ship that was only carrying mouth wash? If no one finds the wreckage in twenty years, Curly gets reawoken and suffocates (I'm pretty sure one of the characters said something about running out of oxygen before food); if he gets found then he gets the finger pointed at him for presumably intentionally veering the ship into a collision *while* spending the rest of his life in continued agony. It doesn't matter what they believe for how the crew died, Curly takes all the blame as he's not only the only survivor but the captain, not only did they all die in horrific ways but they burned through most of the cargo!

In the end, Curly did it to himself really, every problem that happens, every death a reminder that none of it would've happened if he had did the right thing. Every time Jimmy exercises his anger on him by forcing the pills down his throat and ignores his choked cries and tears, it was Curly taking responsibility for his actions, or rather lack of, that got them to that moment. Even if he didn't want to take responsibility, he still did, he had no choice.

It's why Curly was the captain and Jimmy wasn't, why he could've called himself captain all he wanted and no one (except Daisuke but, he's Daisuke) believed it, not even himself.

He never took responsibility for anything he did, he laid the blame for the crash on Curly and even for delaying the news of the company's bankruptcy even though Curly technically broke protocol and told them early; everyone died believing Curly was the one piloting even though by the time he got into the cockpit it was too late. He never took responsibility for assaulting Anya and subsequently getting her pregnant, instead choosing to hide the truth and secretly hounding her into "fixing it" to the point of her committing suicide so it truly was "fixed." He didn't take responsibility for getting Daisuke killed by having him crawl into the broken air vent and getting seriously injured, instead the truth of the events that lead up to it coming out as the kid lay on his bed dying, profusely apologizing for what in his eyes was a fuck up on his behalf.

Everyone else takes responsibility for the consequences of actions done by Jimmy. Anya takes responsibility for him getting her pregnant and "takes care of it" like he wanted her to, presumably before the crash even happened he was telling her this. Daisuke takes responsibility for knocking out Swansea and going into the vent, even though he was going off of Jimmy's commands. Swansea takes responsibility for not only trying to protect Anya (why he constantly carried the axe) but for falling back into alcoholism by coping with their fate, even though Jimmy was the one who opened the cargo hold.

Even when Anya is dead, and Curly is forced to lay by her corpse, Jimmy doesn't take responsibility for him being the reason she took that course of action, completely blotting the scene out of his mind until he's forced to look at it when picking up Curly, even then he only focuses on Curly.

At his end, he never feels regrets for his actions unless they're in the context of it affecting Curly, and even then its only because he didn't know how stressful the position actually was. He doesn't have remorse for assaulting Anya and pushing her into suicide, for getting Daisuke mercy killed by Swansea (he doesn't have anything to say about it beyond berating Swansea for being hasty) or pushing the old man into coming at him with an axe after he had his own mental break. He only feels remorse for being jealous of Curly and not realizing how stressful the role of captain really was until he was in the position himself, he only thinks Curly as a prestigious prick who cares about his own image and career and no one else's.

He gets to kill himself, consequence free, even being able to think of himself as the hero at the end, when everything that transpired over the course of the game was his fault.

I don't think Curly is as bad a person as Jimmy is, but hes still bad, he's too much of an optimist and wanted to keep trying to see the good in people even when it came to the detriment of his crew.

In short, fuck Jimmy but fuck Curly too.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What are your opinions on more „popular“ salt takes about Adrien and Mari, like the typical „Adrichat is an ass for for flirting with LB after she rejects him“ and „Maribug us a horrible stalker“?

Well, I'd be lying if I said that I have no idea where they're coming from. There are definitely times when I'll watch an episode and wonder what in the world the writers are trying to do, especially when it comes to Adrien's behavior as it's played a lot more straight than Marinette's. While I don't like her behavior at times, it's almost always treated as a joke, not a dramatic character beat whereas I cannot say the same for Adrien.

But these are characters in a TV show, not real people and we need to keep that in mind when judging them. It's why my go-to thought is "what is wrong with the writing staff" and not "Adrien is an incel." Because Adrien is very clearly not supposed to be an incel. Unless the writers are plotting something truly asinine, the Love Square is our end game couple. We are supposed to view Adrien as a charming and funny romantic lead. When he falls short of that role, it's not Adrien "showing his true colors." He's a fictional character. He has no true colors. If his actions and words are ever unbecoming for a romantic lead, it's because the writers are failing to write Adrien the way they want us to see him.

They consistently do this to all of the characters. Alya's supposed to be an awesome friend and a smart journalist (I think), but she can't see through Lila's BS. Marinette's parents are supposed to be loving and supportive, but they randomly believed that their daughter stole from their bakery to make a dress and didn't even try to let her explain herself. Nino is supposed to be the Chosen of Protection, but he didn't care to protect his best friend and just happily sent Gabriel on a rampage without a second thought.

Give me a character and I can point to a bunch of episodes that justify every salty take this fandom has because they're not pulling this stuff from thin air. They're picking and choosing the worst writing in the show and venting about it, which is frankly understandable. Like I get why there are so many Alya salt fics. Her writing in the Lila episodes is infuriating and I do find those fics a little cathartic at times. But it's really, really obvious that she's not supposed to be a terrible friend. She's a victim of the writers drawing the Lila plot line out for far too long and making Lila's lies far too obvious.

Similarly, a lot of the issues with Adrien and Marinette stem from the fact that you simply can't draw a romance plot out for five seasons without causing issues unless you make the romance a background plot. But they didn't do that. The love square is front and center for most episodes, but since it can't actually resolve, the writers keep adding drama that makes our leads feel horribly unhealthy.

On the Marinette side, her not being able to talk to Adrien was fine as an initial issue, but we are five seasons into this show. Over 100 episodes! You reach a point where it stops being cute and starts being concerning. It's also not helped by the fact that Marinette's crush is written like a celebrity crush and not a crush on someone she actually knows. Daily exposure to Adrien should mellow her out. Especially since he's supposed to be her friend! But if the writers let Marinette talk to Adrien, then they'd grow closer and might feel like they had to get together, so they couldn't let that. Thus Marinette being a disaster for four seasons and the terrible shoehorned plot to try and justify it in season five.

On the Adrien side, they let Chat Noir confess too soon. Prior to that, the Ladynoir relationship was a playful one where it was feasible that Ladybug just viewed her kitty as a massive flirt. This was especially true since he flirts with everyone. But once she knew that he was serious? The playfulness vanished and Chat Noir started coming across as entitled and pushy. It didn't help that they had him ignoring her preferences ("Don't call me Bugaboo") and getting them in trouble by not taking his job seriously (his flirting getting them hit in Oblivio).

In summary, the love square should have been resolved much sooner or been relegated to a b plot that got far less attention. I also would have reversed the square since it makes for a far more interesting story that you can organically draw out longer, but that's just me. I don't have any issue with people ignoring the canon problems and just writing Adrien and Marinette as the cute couple that they were obviously intended to be. I also enjoy fics that treat Adrien's pushiness as a character flaw that can be resolved because that's what canon should have done. His issues aren't the mark of a terrible person. They're the understandable flaws of a teenager who is in love for the first time and doesn't know how to express himself. If a show would actually address this kind of common tween/teen issue, then a lot of kids would get an incredibly valuable lesson that would help them when they grow up and fall in love. If you're ever watching Miraculous with a kid, I strongly encourage you to approach Adrien's character from that perspective. Talk about why his actions are understandable, but ultimately wrong and more likely to push someone away than win their heart just like we see with Ladybug.

[lesbesapphic]

Mean Wanda AU

Summary - Wanda and You are stuck in an elevator. That's it.

Warning - angst, mean Wanda , panic attack , claustrophobia, etc

A/N- Hey everyone!

I am really happy for the love and support on this au! So glad that you all enjoy it. I wanted to write this sooner but recently..as usual I have been going through some financial crunch. It is hard to make it to each month with college and everything else and still be able to write and have a kitchen with filled groceries.

And it sucks that I have to ask you all every time for help but it really means alot when any of you help me whether it is through commission. Some days it just helps me eat and keep myself healthy enough to go through college and meet the bills. So thank you. Thank you very much. Enjoy!

Buy Me A Coffee | Ko-fi

____

“Looks like we’re gonna be stuck here for a while."

"Ugh." Wanda kicked the elevator door in frustration and your eyes widen when the lift shook slightly. "The fuck Wanda.." You exclaimed in annoyance mixed with fear at her actions. "Don't do that." You placed your hand on her elbow.

"Don't tell me what to do."  Wanda snapped and pushed your hand away harshly causing it to hit the wall of the lift. You hissed in pain and for a moment regret flashed in Wanda's eyes but replaced immediately with the same look of distressed.

"Fine. Do whatever you want." You pushed away from her as much as the confined space allowed you to. It had been happening for awhile now the elevator's power going off every once in a while resulting in people getting stuck in there. You two usually avoided getting in the elevator but lost in your bickering, you walked in there with Wanda following insuit, wanting to have her last word. Now you both were going to be stuck for atleast half an hour. You took out a book from your bag and sat down on the floor, hoping to pass the time quickly.

Not even two lines into the book, Wanda's constant foot tapping made you look up to the brunette, "Could you please stop that?" You asked and Wanda turned looking down to where you were sitting and you observed how agitated she looked. It was a little weird but you didn't think much of it, probably her not being able to check her phone.

"No. Just two more minutes and I am gonna break this door down." Wanda declared looking up at the vent and you got up as well, "What the fuck is your problem? It's just a matter of 20 minutes. You can't sit without your phone for 20 minutes?" You asked crossing your arm waiting for her to answer.

"It's..It's not that.." Wanda tried speaking but stopped and looked down at your book instead of you. This behaviour of her was very out of character, by now Wanda would have replied to you with a witty insult about your lack of social life or choices of friends but nothing, instead she was trying to explain her problem. It was weird.

"Wanda.." You stepped forward, placing your hand on her elbow, "No! Don't touch me.." She pushed your hand away and you looked into her eyes, the panic in them when she saw how close you were to her, sweat forming on her forehead. You instantly pulled away, "Okay Okay! I won't!" You held your hands up in the air watching as Wanda tried to keep her breathing in control. It was as if she was having a panic attack then it clicked.

"Wanda..are you claustrophobic?" You couldn't help but ask when the older girl nodded, her hand placed on her face her whole focus remaining on her breathing. You turned around searching in your bag for a water bottle, "Here." You handed it to Wanda who frantically grabbed it from you, trying to open the cap and when she failed to do so, you could see the panic rising within her very quickly.

Wanda pushed the bottle toward you and you could see the tears bubbling in her eyes and you looked away, quickly taking the bottle and opening the cap for her. She took big gulps of the liquid and turned around away from you, placing her head on the wall as she tried getting her breathing under control. You knew it was taking everything in her to not breakdown and she was desperately searching for control as she wasn't the one who to be vulnerable in front of anyone. Especially you.

You stayed quiet while Wanda got herself under control, observing the change in her breathing going back to a little normal. The brunette turned around and when she noticed you staring at her, she narrowed her eyes at you causing you to raise your hands in surrender, "You feeling okay now?" You asked and Wanda opened her mouth to reply and the look on her face told you that she was going to say something sarcastic but refrained herself and nodded instead before moving down to the floor, sitting against the wall. You decided to do the same and took out a book to read, occasionally glancing at the girl next to you incase she needed anything.

"Do you want me to read it to you? It might take you to a different place." You offered quietly when Wanda looked much more settled, the panic simmering down to intense anxiety, you could tell by the way, she was scratching the skin of her arm to distract herself. Wanda glanced at you and nodded after a moment. You didn't understand why your heart ached at how small and vulnerable the older girl looked, despite the leather jacket and the piercings, one look at her and no one would believe the terror she creates in people everywhere she'd go.

You flipped through the pages of your Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone, deciding to read about the quidditch match, hoping the description of open sky and freely flying through it may distract her from the closed space she was in. You started reading, occasionally glancing over to Wanda who after a page of reading looked significantly calmer, she had stopped picking at the skin of her arm which felt like a huge relief to you.

The familiar scent of lavender mixed with cigarette engulfed your nose faster than the surprise when Wanda inched closer to you until your arms were touching and you glanced up at her, stopping your reading, "My head hurts.." She stated and you nodded softly, "Do you want me to stop reading?" You offered and watched as she shook her head, the familiar look of distress falling on face again and you wondered what was triggering it now and how you could take it away.

"No..The reading is good..it helps." Wanda reassured and you nodded urging her to speak up, "I just want to lay down but the floor is too dirty for my hair.." She trailed off and you looked at the floor and nodded in agreement. Wanda's eyebrows furrowed and you could see the frustration building up on her but you didn't know what she wanted. You couldn't just magically conjur a bed for her.

"Y/N!"

"What? What do you want me to do?" You asked putting the book down on the floor and giving Wanda your full attention, panicking a little at not understanding what the older girl wanted you to do to ease her distress.

Wanda groaned and pushed your hands off your lap, placing her head on it and lying down on the floor sideways. Your eyes widen at the physical proximity of the two of you and you were snapped back into reality when the older girl spoke again, "Read." You could hear the embarrassment in her voice and decided to not trouble her further, continuing with your reading.

Not even two page through and suddenly Wanda grabbed your hand that was on your side and placed it on her head, it took you a moment to realise what she wanted you to do and you slowly started running your hand through her hair, massaging the scalp with your shaky hand, your heart beating faster when you started noticing the little details such as how soft her hair were and how she was making those soft content humming noises and redness in her cheeks. Wanda snapped you out of your thoughts again, "Read." She commanded softly and you instantly started reading to make her comfortable.

Every now and then you would glance down at Wanda who would be humming in contentment and listening to every word you say as your hand moved through her hair. You would have to admit that being this close to the older girl was sort of nice. And as much as you wanted the elevator to start again, a very selfish part of you would be missing being able to comfort Wanda and being there for her when she needed you to.

-----

A/N - I really hope you all enjoyed it!

And if you all wish to make a commission! Please do! I would really appreciate and if you all just want to support me that would also be really helpful!!!

I have a goal of 100 dollars to be able to buy some groceries and meet the rent. I would really appreciate if you all can help me reach it.

It is not compulsory. I enjoy writing for you all regardless of the help. It is my escape and I love that you all enjoy it as much as I do. But yes this time I am really struggling. Hopefully it will work out :).

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

Daisy & Mavis?

Or maybe Sir Handel & Peter Sam?

Ooooh, Sir Handel and Peter Sam have a fascinating dynamic. However, I don't really have much to say that others haven't already said, and probably said better. To the degree that I'm tempted to talk about their Trauma Responses, I have another ask about Sir Handel & Skarloey, so I think I'll fold these thoughts into that post.

So, Daisy and Mavis — love 'em — only wish they got more screen time!

("Screen" time. Do they ever have a significant interaction in the television series? I really want to be told if they do.)

Actually they only have one page in RWS where they exchange a word. But it's such a good page. Posting it here for the uninitiated:

Look at this mess. Look at this absolutely perfect bitchfest. There are a total of zero brain cells in this conversation. Venting to your work bestie and and letting loose your inner mean girl. A classic RWS dynamic! It's just the diesel (& the female) version of the Thomas and Percy relationship: They make each other worse.

But, they need each other.

But, they make each other worse...!

Despite their lack of screentime following this, you cannot convince me that these two don't remain peas in a pod, just like 1 and 6 after 6 is transferred to the branch line.

I do think it's rather sad that Mavis is holed up in the quarry. :( There's a real bummer of a line when she appears in a later Christopher story...

"Besides, she sometimes finds it dull up at the Quarry with no one to talk to but trucks." I know it's realistic, but I want better for her. LET 👏 HER 👏 OUT 👏

Once smartphones became a thing, I like to imagine that they videocalled from the quarry to the carriage shed every night. (Annie, Clarabel, and Henrietta are very understanding about this when the call lasts half an hour. If ever the workers try to indulge Daisy and Mavis with a longer call, however, the coaches start murmuring...)

One great thing about this convo is that it's the first time I feel like I'm really, genuinely looking at lasting steam/diesel coexistence on Sodor's 'big railway.' Coz this is a target Awdry has been trying to hit for at least a dozen books now, yeah? Due mostly to his publishers' pressures, he's been trying to have beloved diesel characters while keeping his 1920-cosplay steam railway too, and this is where I think he finally hits the target. Daisy's first appearance was hamstrung because the turning point where she changes her haughty new-engine attitude and where the others accept her despite all the shit she's already pulled is off-screen, we're just told "they're friends now" and have to be all "right. sure." Probably because he got negative feedback on his Daisy hash, Awdry played it suuuuper safe with BoCo and Bear — less so Bear, but that's another post; for now I will just say that in contrast to Daisy they are presented as very clean-as-a-whistle, and their acceptance by the railway is made so much of that it doesn't feel natural, they both feel like one-offs. But then, ahhh. Now we've got Mavis, and Awdry has the bright idea to let her talk to Daisy, and BANG. Now we're here. This doesn't feel Informed, or starch-and-stiff, or tokenistic. You read this and you're like oh, yeah. Even the sleepiest branch line on this railway is now part dieselised. They're acting like characters! Everybody is acting like squabbling coworkers! It's like sinking at last into a warm relaxing soak. Ahhhhh. Here's the good stuff.

Because they don't need to be Representatives of dieselkind? They can just kinda suck for a moment, without being villains? When TVS subs out Daisy for Diesel, it automatically gives this conversation a sinister air. He's the devil on Mavis's shoulder. But in the original, there's nothing sinister here; it's homey. They're just venting to each other. Their behavior is kinda crappy, but also very normal and recognisable. New work besties fr. They are both three drinks in.

Daisy: He said what to you? Omg babe. I cannot believe that old garden shed said that to youuu.

Mavis: Right?????

Daisy: raising a glass Anything steam engines do, we diesels can do BETTER!

Mavis: hauling herself a bit unsteadily to her feet so that her gesticulation can be its most dramatic and sweeping You are RIGHT and you should SAY IT!

(Narrator: mildly ... Daisy was not right and, being probably the most specialised and least versatile engine then on her railway, she definitely should not have been saying it.)

(Above: The quintessential moment. Mavis & Daisy are commiserating/carping, and Annie & Clarabel are trying so hard to not hear their shit.)

Now, I've always had a question here...

Did Toby really say that only steam engines can shunt trucks?

The text indicates only that he was annoyed that she kept re-arranging things, they had a tiff, she rejected his input and left.

Then again, the text doesn't reveal that Percy calls Mavis's shunting "a ---- ------ ------ mess!", so, y'know. We get the minimum detail necessary in these stories. ;)

We never see Toby express any such sentiment about diesel engines. I'm inclined to think he never said this — and I suspect we're not supposed to believe he said this, only that Mavis is in stroppy teen mode and exaggerating and embellishing her grievances to the point where she's straight-up making shit up.

Still, I'm not sure. Usually in the RWS if a character is lying they are slyly or explicitly called out for it in the nearby text and this time the claim is just... sitting here.

Ultimately, I don't think he ever said that to her, but (considering how salty everyone on the Ffarquhar line can get: some have quicker fuses than others but they're all so provoke-able) I don't think Mavis just made this up completely. If she were making up stories from whole cloth, that would be... well, that would be 'Devious' Diesel behavior! I suspect, however, that Toby and Percy (comparing notes on her shunting) are at least thinking it, or have said it to each other, and Mavis has picked up on these vibes. All of which would be incredibly realistic.

Anyway, I bring this up because the answer does color my read of this conversation a little. If Mavis is completely making up attitudes that Toby never dreamed of having, and Daisy just eats it up and eggs her on, that makes this conversation somehow even 10x messier (and somehow I'm still rooting for their friendship). If this is a sentiment that is real or implied when Mavis or Daisy annoy the other Ffarquhar engines (and they can both be annoying, no question) then the bond between these two characters, with their very different personalities, just becomes even more 'understandable.'

Anyway, about those differences. Mainly, Daisy is ultimately very conventional. (This reminds me I have a nearly-finished essay about Daisy lying around somewhere. For now...) Mavis is the original, creative one, the mover-and-shaker. All Daisy's initial behaviors, as Hazel observed recently, are things we've seen from proud new engines before! She wants lots of attention, she boasts, she tries her damnedest to get out of work that she thinks is beneath her. What Mavis wants is to improve things, to have more responsibility, to get to stretch her wheels. Furthermore, Daisy by nature is keen to avoid work that's too heavy (she's a railcar with limited pulling power, so, you know, understandable); Mavis doesn't mind work — she just doesn't like being told how to do it, and she doesn't like being bored!

A point where they can be contrasted is in how they accept Toby's help and friendship at the end of their initial... "arcs." (All right, Daisy's "arc" is ended so clumsily that you can barely call it that, but you get me.) I'm not saying Mavis is devious or calculating, but for her Toby's offer of friendship is just as important as a pathway to her getting out of the quarry sometimes as it is for his forgiveness. It is her ticket out. For Daisy, Toby's offer of friendship was important because she wants friends, now she's making a friend yay!! — and I think that was pretty much it. Daisy just wants positive attention; that's what all her 'modern and right-up-to-date' stuff was about, but that failed to get her the positive attention she wanted and it turned out that being a team player did, so she had little trouble re-orienting herself. She resisted the pressure of everyone on the platform for her first train because she clung to the memory of her friend the fitter, but I don't think she's one to resist peer pressure in general, and as time passed and the Ffarquhar line residents became her peers, it was completely inevitable that she start to conform to their ways.

So (although, again, annoyingly — we aren't shown) I reckon that Daisy panicked after Percy's accident when she realized that she would be in trouble too (all right, someone probably had to point it out to her). And so for the first time she pitches in and does some hard work. Toby can't help but own "you did well to get all your half cleared, Daisy" and Daisy's entire system lights up because compliment, baby!!! That's all she ever wanted. She's Toby's man now (so to speak).

I can also easily imagine that, in trying to get adjusted to Mavis, Toby remembered how thing went last time. He must have tried from the first to tell himself, through slightly gritted teeth, "Just find something to compliment the new engine on, just anything. Helps build trust." But he was stymied twice over. 1) She keeps re-arranging the trucks in some crazy-ass unapproved way and he can't find ANYTHING nice to say! 2) It wouldn't have worked, anyway. Mavis wouldn't have been satisfied with just some friendly attention. Mavis wants to do. shit.

Mavis is bright — possibly has little common sense, but she's bright. I do wonder sometimes if her shunting arrangements are actually bad, or if they're just different and Toby and Percy can't adjust. (The text does own that due to the siding arrangements it's inefficient to put the trucks where Toby expects them. She probably does optimize things — from her point of view, anyhow.) Either way, though, here is an active and creative mind at work. Plus, her ploy to slo-o-owly expand her pathway down the line in "Toby's Tightrope" shows long-term planning, which is hardly something we've ever seen any vehicle do! So yeah, she's well above-average bright for an engine.

Hilariously, in Their Own Scene she is easily impressed by Daisy's lofty confidence (another classic RWS dynamic — it's giving Duncan staring amazed at James's boasting), but she's also super young, hasn't been Toby-fied yet, and in short I expect that as the years go by Mavis is likely to see Daisy as less of a role model and more of a crony/partner-in-crime. Daisy might instigate things sometimes — but she needs Mavis and Mavis's bright ideas before she really makes much headway! And I expect Mavis is often the instigator anyway. In her literary-device role of Second Coming of Thomas (Dieselised Flavour), she probably continues to want all sorts of things that engines aren't supposed to pine for (silly stick-in-the-muds!) Daisy is quite content to grumble but put up. Mavis will find a way to make stuff happen.

(Which is the only explanation we're going to get for how Mavis is at large on every quarry and some not-remotely-a-quarry sets on the island, come TVS!)

That was a light rap on the TVS there, but not a very hard knock; at least TVS insisted (in spite of all logic) on using her character for stuff. Christopher lets me down, personally, by finding so little for Mavis to do — and never having her and Daisy interact! I want more of this shit so badly.

However, in the Author's Note of Thomas Comes Home, Daisy apparently has a bee in her bonnet about fans who think the series has no female engines and is like 'me and Mavis tho!!!!!!' Which... I like seeing Daisy mention Mavis. That's all. It assures me that they’re still a duo (although I prefer Wilbert's interpretation that they bond over being The Two Diesels On This Line vs. Christopher's implication that their bond is being The Two Girls On This Line).

[slytherinsomniari]

A Twisted Kind of Love| Part Two + Epilogue|Possessive! Sebastian Sallow x F! Reader x Victor Rookwood

Pairing: Sebastian Sallow x F! Reader x Victor Rookwood

Summary: Months after Sebastian used the Imperius Curse on you, you find you situation has changed drastically. Under his control, you now serve to please him every waking moment. In this horrific situation, only time will tell if you succumb to his will and devote yourself to him for the rest of your life, or if you will take a chance with the most unlikely of people. 

Word Count: 5233

Themes: Smut, Rape, Consensual sex, Masturbation, Teasing, Aged up characters, Imperius curse, Mindfuck, Sexual Slavery, Comfort, Happy Ending

A/N: It’s been a long time coming and I am so sorry for the wait. I was caught up with character ai and lost the inspiration to write, leaving this halfway done until I was able to come back to it and finish it. Sorry if it is not up to par. This one is real long but I didn’t want to cut anything out. I wanted to illustrate more of the abuse that Sebastian did to the reader while also showing the kindness of Rookwood and his encounter with her. It is my first dark fic, so I really hope I am able to portray this subject properly and with respect.

|Part One| Part Two|

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It had been three months since Sebastian had mind-fucked you in your cottage that night, though you didn’t know. No, you were so far gone and under his Imperius Curse that the only thoughts in your head were Sebastian and how you wanted him every single second of the day and night. You are traveling on the road now in a horse-drawn open top wagon with Sebastian and none other than Victor Rookwood. He used to be your enemy but Sebastian viewed him as a useful tool to gather allies and help him create a way of life that would allow him to take you away and live with you. Currently, you’re sitting on Sebastian’s lap, black dress hiked and legs spread as you grind into him. The fresh air hits your exposed body, doing nothing to cool the heat in you. It is an unquenchable heat and only one thing would help. Though you wear a dress, you don’t wear underwear anymore, not when you are with him. He wanted to be able to take you at any moment and you were all too ready to please him. He is aroused, his member poking out of the fabric of his pants. That was what tipped you off in the first place. Once you saw that, you had gotten on top of him and started grinding, silently begging him to have his way with you even though you were on the road and had an audience. By this point it didn’t even matter where you were or if there were others around. The curse made you so willing to be with him that you no longer cared about things like decency. In fact, in the months he had you, he had taken you while you were in company, just grabbing you and fucking you right there as if you were an object–and in one sense you were. You have been so reduced as a person to now just being a tool to be used for his desires.

You had positioned yourself so that he would be practically inside you, the cloth getting in the way while simultaneously making you wetter. You continued grinding into him, your true desire so tantalizingly close yet so far away. He wasn’t initiating contact so you moved, sensually moving your hips to try to entice him to finish what you started.

He laughs, “Such a needy little pet, aren’t you?”

Despite saying this, he makes no move to comply with your desires. He sits still, watching as you beg him to fuck you. Frustration mounts within you, not liking how he wasn’t giving himself to you. Not being satisfied by him, you take matters into your own hands. You stop moving and lower your fingers to your pussy, pleasing yourself on him. A single touch from your fingers sends shivers up your spine and you let out a whimper as you circle your clit. Biting your lip, you lock eyes with Sebastian as he watches you vent your frustration on yourself. He places his hands tightly on your legs and ass, stabilizing you and allowing you to play with yourself fully. The feeling of his smooth fingers clenching your skin like that drove you insane with desire, wishing even more that he would take you. You insert two fingers and begin to thrust them inside yourself, moaning loud and not caring who heard. Taking direction from what he had done to you before, you use the techniques he taught you and move your fingers around and over your clit, switching between touching and plunging. Your breath quickens and your moans grow louder as you continue the show. Soon it becomes too much for you and you cum all over yourself. Warmth pools on your cunt and slightly dribbles down your legs, leaving some on his trousers.

“Good girl.” Sebastian praises you, rubbing your head with his hand. He is clearly pleased with your actions and despite your disappointment in him not following through, you smile at him, basking in his praise.

“Remind me, who do you belong to, my pet?”

“I belong to you, Sebastian. I am yours to play with, as long as I live. All of me is open to you. Above all, I want to please you. You can fuck me as long as you want, anywhere and everywhere and I will give you as many children as it pleases you.”

Satisfied, he smirks. He was taking great pleasure in how you turned out. One moment–one night–with him made you his personal sex slave. He could get you to do anything for him and could just sit or lie there as you pleased him or even yourself for his entertainment. 

 He originally did love you purely and wanted to be with you, but being sent to Azkaban changed him. He felt betrayed by his closest friend and believed that you were innocent in all of it. If it hadn’t been for Ominis, the two of you would have been together a lot sooner, and that thought plagued him. One day in his cell he snapped, letting dark thoughts enter his head. If Ominis and the rest of the world were going to keep you away from him, he would have to take you by force. Hopefully in time, you would forgive him. Of course you would. It was obvious that you wanted to be with him–that you belonged to him. He would just have to convince you first. He had smirked, thinking of all the ways he could make you kneel. 

And kneel you did. You belong to him now, though even he knew it wasn’t permanent yet. He would have to keep this up for a while until it was all you knew. Eventually you stop at an isolated glen as he sets up a tent. It appears that this would be where you would live for a while until he made enough money to buy a house for the two of you. So your life began there, Sebastian stealing and doing other nefarious things to earn an income alongside the other dark wizards. Though he would always make sure he had enough time to thoroughly ravage you multiple times a day to make sure you knew your place and to satisfy his infinite desires.

One day two months later, the Imperius Curse suddenly wears off, giving you your sanity again. You recoil as the memories of everything he did to you came flooding in. Everything that you remembered was absolutely appalling. You find yourself in a room in a tent that resembles the ones that the dark wizards used when you were a student. It has, amongst shelves and other furniture, a desk and a bed. It appears that this was the room you were being kept in–or at least, the room you had come to in. Apparently you must have been making some noise in your shock as someone enters the room and you don’t even have to wonder who it is as you know immediately. It is your former friend and your current tormenter–Sebastian Sallow. He looks almost the same as he did the night he came to you, with a muscular body and short brunette hair, but he was not in his prison uniform. He is wearing black trousers and a black button up along with a black vest with gray stripes. He looks healthier and more relaxed, as if he was living a normal life and hadn’t just escaped from Azkaban. As if he wasn’t assaulting someone he supposedly cared about daily.

Your instincts kick in and you run at him, aiming your hand for a slap but he effortlessly grabs your wrist and stops you. His grip on you is tight despite his relaxed appearance and doesn’t budge when you try to give him the slip. You grunt in pain as he forces you further into the room stopping right in front of his desk. He releases you and you quickly retract your wrist and rub it, a feral look in your eyes.

“Let. Me. Go.”

“No.”

You glare at him. 

“Why would I let you go when we’ve been having so much fun together? Besides, it’s not like you can leave anyway, given your condition. I’ve been keeping track, you know. You haven’t bled ever since I took you. I’ve been filling you for this very purpose. Of course, I loved seeing you full of my seed but I had other reasons why it had to be that way. We can start a family together, Y/N. No one will come after us. It will be just you and me and all of the children you will have. Because, love, I don’t plan on stopping our little fun time anytime soon.” He places his hand on your stomach and you realize that there is a noticeable bump. “We’ll be one big happy family and you will bear me many children.”

Once more, you are hit deeply with the revelation. You are absolutely horrified. Pregnant? That can’t be. This is all going way too fast. You couldn’t even think straight. Regardless of your thoughts, the noticeable bump proved that you were indeed pregnant with his child.

He cups your face tenderly, as if he hadn’t done such horrible things to you. “What are you thinking?”

You tear your face from his hand in anger and confusion, shoving his hand away. “I don’t know! This is sick! How could I be pregnant?! I don’t even remember being gone that long, thanks to you. I hate you for what you have done to me. But you want to know the real fucked up part? There’s a part of me that still loves you. I have always loved you! I want to run away but I want you. I’ve wanted you to fuck me for so long like you have been all this time–” You are cut off as he flips you around and pushes you onto the desk on your stomach as he undoes his trousers. One arm holds you to the desk while the other finishes unbuckling his belt and pulls on his pants, letting them fall to the floor.

“Your wish is my command, sweetheart.”

Realizing what you just said, you quickly try to take it back. “Sebastian, please! You need to–”

You are given no time to finish your sentence as he pulls up the bottom of the dress up above your hips and thrusts himself into you. You let out a shocked gasp and grip the desk tight, nails digging deep into its surface. His hands move to cover yours and intertwine with them as he leans over you and takes you. A chilling sensation flows through your body as he does this. It’s a very intimate yet dominating move–using a comforting move usually used between two consenting lovers while also demonstrating that he was in control. His body presses up against yours in an oppressive yet horrifyingly arousing manner. You knew he was raping you– that he had been raping you all this time–but he made it feel so fucking good. You had wanted him for so long and now you have him, but you have him in the worst way possible. Your mind was so confused, flipping from disgust and horror to desire within moments of each other.

“Why…why do you make me feel so good?” you bitterly ask yourself, feeling him thrust into you. He isn’t going as fast as he usually does but he isn’t slow either. As he goes on, you realize that he fits perfectly in you. It appears that your body has completely gotten used to him and has molded itself to wrap around him just right. That thought gives you mixed feelings and you would rather not think too deeply about them.

He keeps going, moving into you at a steady pace, smiling behind you as he continues. You had said you wanted it–said you wanted him. It wouldn’t be that long until he wouldn’t even need to put you under the Imperius curse to make you be with him. The longer it goes on, the more your body starts to enjoy it. This situation was not good, but you are quickly finding that you can’t stop your growing need.

“Oh fuck, Sebastian. I want…I want…”

He planted his mouth on your neck, biting down hard and sucking while he thrusts. A desperate moan came out of you. “What is it that you want?”

Your entire being was fighting what you were going to say, but failed. You quickly get out, “I want you to keep ravaging me and fill me with all you have.” You regret it the moment it comes out of your mouth but you can’t stop yourself. He had kept you in a constant state of arousal for months on end, pleasing himself inside you as he used your body as an object. Your body had taken control from your mind and all it wanted was him. You just regained your sanity and just as quickly had your will taken away from you. It wasn’t as easy as you thought to return to your proper state of mind. Your body had been trained to love him–trained to submit to a single touch. You would have to fight a lot harder to break his hold on you.

Taking you to the bed, he removes your dress along with the rest of his clothes and pounces onto you. He begins his assault on you once more, making you feel so wonderful with each powerful ram into you. Your body moves on its own, wrapping itself around him and gratefully grinding into him, submitting itself once more to his dominance. You lay there, tears streaming down your face, as you moan ferociously loud while he takes you. It hurt. You were scared. Why did he feel so good inside you? You knew it was so wrong, so fucked, but you couldn’t get rid of the part that loved it when you were his. He took you for hours. From afternoon until the sun came up the next day he fucked you and used you. He took no breaks, forcing you to take what he gave–what he gave because of your foolish request. In your confused state you gave him permission to continue treating you this way, and this is something you would regret deeply. But in the moment you only felt the sweet pleasure and satisfaction that he gave. He made sure that you orgasmed multiple times and ensured that he came in you every time. Being pregnant has no bearing on this; rather, he did it because he enjoyed it and wanted to claim you.

He wanted you to know there was no way out–that you couldn’t get rid of your desire for him even when you had your mind back. Pretty soon, you would snap out of your delusion and would realize that you could be happy with him. You would have a good life with him and he would never let anyone harm you or take you away.

The day shifts and becomes the next day. Life is much the same as it was before, with more of the same treatment. He’s been keeping you in that same room for hours, constantly teasing your clit and stopping before you would orgasm. He wanted to drive you insane–wanted to make you bend to his will once more–without Imperio.

“You know I love you Y/N and I know you love me too. I can see it. Why ruin your own happiness and run away? I can give you everything you want here.”

“This is all wrong Sebastian. You are sick and demented. I want this all to stop.” You say as you fight through the pleasant sensation resonating through your body.

“That’s not what you were saying last time.”

Flushing, you angrily retort, “I wasn’t in my right mind and you know it. Don’t torture me anymore, please.”

He continues teasing you for a while, ignoring your pleas. His long, slender fingers repeatedly caressing one of his favorite parts of you. You were so close to breaking, he just needed to keep it up for a while longer. Shortly after, he makes the final move.

“I’ll leave you to think about our future for a while. Perhaps when I return you will be more obedient and kind towards your husband and father of your child.” He walks out to conduct business of his own, leaving you writhing in unfulfilled desire on his bed. Tears roll down your face as you are left without any fulfillment. You could touch yourself but that wouldn’t be enough. He made you want more–made you want to be taken, and only that would satisfy you.

Not that long after Sebastian left, Victor Rookwood enters the room, looking at you as you lay on the bed.

Not even thinking, you tearfully utter the word “Please…” as one lone tear spills down your face, your plea obvious to anyone who sees you. Rookwood peers down at you with a look of pity.

He approaches you slowly and cautiously, almost like he was approaching a wounded animal and wanted to show he meant no harm. 

“Are you sure about this, girl?”

You nod, in pain from your desires not being fulfilled. You hate how Sebastian made you like this but once you were made to be in this state, you needed to get it out of your system. He looks at you once more, contemplating a moment before complying and removing his clothes. Once he’s done, he gets on the bed and positions himself to be on top of you.  He touches your face gently and caringly, not at all like how Sebastian touched you. Rookwood touched you as if you were made out of porcelain and would break at any moment. The pity in his eyes is still there, but he knows that you need this in order to return to normal. 

“Get ready” He says, allowing you to prepare for what is about to happen. 

You wrap your arms around his toned body and nod, signaling you were ready. He presses himself up against you and pushes himself in, causing you to make a sharp moan. His member is unfamiliar to your body after having been trained to seek out and fit around Sebastian’s perfectly, so it has to adjust to the new shape. He stops once he’s fully in, keeping himself in you and allowing you to adjust to him. His lips press against yours and he begins to kiss you slowly, trying to make it a pleasing moment while simultaneously attempting to calm you down. You kiss back, loving the intimacy and understanding what he is trying to tell you. Once he breaks off the kiss, he slowly begins moving, keeping the pace relaxed and casual. Random noises start to come out of you, bubbling up from your mouth and escaping. A sense of fulfillment is gradually starting to flow through you as your sexual needs get taken care of. 

If you had been in your right mind, you would have felt slightly odd being intimate with your former enemy. You wouldn’t have even been able to imagine this scenario when you were 15 and trying to control your ancient magic while fighting him and Ranrok off but here you were, your body starting to move with his at this calm tempo. You would have wondered what it felt like for him, how he felt about having sex with the girl who ruined his plans all those years ago. But alas, the only thing in your mind was getting the fix that Sebastian neglected to give you in his most recent torture session.

This slow movement continues for some time, the two of you basking in the pleasure it brought. It wasn’t rough like how Sebastian started out, but rather like a gentle caress. Each time Rookwood moved you would feel a relaxing pleasure, causing your body to release the tension and for the first time in forever, you were allowed to enjoy it. After some time, your hands fall back on the bed, bent and up near your head. Rookwood places his rough hands on yours and intertwines them, an act that causes you to jolt. It was the same thing that Sebastian did earlier and he can immediately tell, stopping his body. He has a loose grip on your hands and his thumbs soothingly rub your hands, showing you he meant you no harm–that he was different from Sebastian.

“Shhhhh, girl. It’s alright. You are not with him.”

You look at him, studying his face. He looks the same as he always has, dark facial hair scattered across his face with blue pools that peered down at you. You look into them, getting lost in the calm waves in his eyes. You close your eyes and get control over yourself, regaining control over your breathing and mind. Your eyes open and you look back at him, offering a silent apology, one that he softly shakes his head at before continuing his movements. After a while you say, “Y/N.”

He looks into your eyes questioningly for a moment and you respond, “Call me Y/N. Please.”

“Y/N” he murmurs, picking up his pace. 

“Victor~” You moan, using his first name. His eyes flicker with hidden emotion but within a flash he gets over it and kisses you quickly to silence you, slipping his tongue down your throat as he continues moving faster and faster. Your mouth opens in shock, giving him access. Mouth moves with mouth, tongue moves with tongue, and body moves with body in a passionate yet tender moment. It is as if time stops and you can forget everything terrible that has happened to you and focus on the one good thing that is happening. Your bodies move together at an ever increasing pace for quite a while. Your body, prevented from orgasming, is allowed to do so and Rookwood continues, allowing for your mutual releases to occur multiple times as your body relaxes after Sebastian’s constant teasing. The only sounds in the room are your breathing, the sound of his body hitting yours, and the muffled moans you make in his mouth as it all wraps up in a beautiful crescendo.

Afterwards, when the two of you have had your fill, he sits up and glances at your figure. You are more tranquil now, having been able to receive what Sebastian denied. Your breathing soft and face at peace, looking as if you haven’t had to endure countless months of agony. You look beautiful to him.

Sebastian isn't back yet, a testament to how much he wanted you to suffer until you broke for him. However, this allows Rookwood to have the perfect opportunity to enact his plan–a plan that was completely unexpected to you. He removes himself from you and looks at you, whispering hastily, “Get dressed. Now.”

Not understanding his haste but hearing the serious undercurrent in his voice, you comply, getting out Sebastian’s bed and putting the dress on. He looks at you, seeing you in such a flimsy dress–the same dress that Sebastian made you wear the entire time as his slave. If you could see yourself through his eyes, you would be able to see how much you looked like a lady of the night, leaving one lover’s bed for another. You were so incredibly close to becoming fixed as one, destined only for Sebastian. Determination settles in his face, making him get up and get dressed as well. Once he only has his coat to put on, he grabs it and walks over to you. Placing it over your shoulders, he lets you put your arms in before buttoning it up. It’s a bit big for you, but it covers you and gives you decency–something you haven’t had in months. The smoothness of his coat feels amazing on your skin and you can smell his scent lingering on it. You breathe it in and smile a little, finding his presence now comforting and safe when as a child it would not have. 

Now that the two of you are ready, Rookwood straightens up and tells you to follow him quietly. You trail behind him, leaving Sebastian’s room as quiet as a mouse. He leads you through the tent, going through halls and other rooms and occasionally stopping and hiding the two of you in case Sebastian or one of his friends were to show up. You guys finally reach the flap of the tent and step out onto the grassy glen. The sun is starting to set but it is still light outside. You see the beauty of the vast green hills covered in grass and a small river that flows nearby. You are far away from your home in the hamlet but despite the traumatizing experience, you could still admire the beauty of the area.

On edge, he turns to you quickly, outstretching his hand. “Take my hand. Take my hand and we will be away from here; you will be free. All you need to do is trust me. Take my hand, Y/N.”

Hesitating for one brief moment, your mind floods with all of what happened to you. All the trauma and feelings you experienced with Sebastian, everything came to you in that split second. Months of torture that had resulted in you becoming with child all led up to this moment. Making your decision, you place your hand in Rookwood’s and he disapparates with you, taking you away from your tormenter. You apparate to a place you find oddly familiar but can’t quite place why. It takes you a few moments to realize where you are but you do so and discover that you are at Rookwood Castle. It looks more glorious than ever and it was clear that Rookwood had it renovated after the events with the repository. It was already huge before but now that it was fixed and in its proper state, it was massive. Your eyes find it overwhelming to take in, especially with all that you have been through. He leads you by the hand to the entrance of his castle and steps inside, bringing you with him. You enter and the two of you stand by the door, leaving it open for the moment. He lets go of your hand and you stand in front of him, not able to believe that you had gotten away.

“He won’t be able to find you here. Relax, my dear.”

Your mind is frazzled, not yet able to keep up with this. “Are you sure? How do you know? As soon as he finds out I’m gone, he’ll know who exactly took me and he will come here ready to reclaim his…his property.” You can barely get out the last part, feeling disgust and shame.

Rookwood takes his hand and brushes it across your face, rubbing it softly before moving a strand of hair behind your ear. “Hush, girl. I have taken care of that. He won’t be able to touch you anymore.”

Your hand goes to your stomach, “But what about the–”

“We’ll figure it out, I promise. We just need you safe and out of his way at the moment. You can stay here and rest in the meantime.”

He presses his lips to your forehead and takes you in his arms, saying “I won’t let anything else happen to you.”

With the realization that you’re safe, that you’re so far away from Sebastian’s clutches, you break down in Victor’s arms. The tears and sobs pour out of you like a dam let loose and you clutch at him to hold yourself up. He soothingly holds you, occasionally rubbing your back softly and resting his head on your head as you let out all of the pain and suffering you’ve been holding in. You never thought your former enemy would become your ally, nor did you think that Sebastian, the man you had been in love with since you met at Hogwarts, would be your enemy. With all the events that had occurred, your affections have transferred to Victor Rookwood–a man who should have been evil, should have been the one doing something like what Sebastian did to you. Instead, he was the one who comforted you and protected you. The man who was giving you what you needed without hesitation. Now, what you needed was a quiet life in a place where you didn’t encounter anyone you knew, in a place where you could isolate yourself and heal. Rookwood is giving you that and more. It is near Feldcroft, which brings back painful memories, but you aren’t going to leave the castle for a while until you feel ready. You are allowed to live in his castle for as long as you want, spending your days healing and exploring the castle. You have found peace at last, in the arms and home of Victor Rookwood.

EPILOGUE

Due to Rookwood’s anonymous tipoff, Sebastian is caught and sent back to Azkaban with an extra sentence and even heavier security. He fights all the way back but the aurors are quick to react and subdue him quickly. The only happy thoughts in his head are the months he spent happily with you, enjoying you to his heart’s content and knowing you are having his child. He loathes the fact that he is back in Azkaban but knows that his legacy will continue through you. Even so, he still craves your body and your touch every second of the day. All he can think of while in his cell is holding your body and feeling its softness in his hands once more, taking you every waking moment. He doesn’t know if he will ever break out again, but he will most certainly try. He has to have you permanently this time, and he won’t let anyone get in his way. However, this time it will be incredibly hard to escape so if he was to be successful, he would really have to plan it carefully. Only time would tell if he would succeed in his escape or not.

As for you and Rookwood, you are still healing but are living in peace with him. You eventually give birth and raise your child, teaching it that Rookwood is its father. Sebastian’s blood may be flowing through your child’s veins but so was yours, and you wanted your child to know everything good in the world, not the evil that flowed through the other half of its blood. After a while, you approach Rookwood and let him know you want to spend the rest of your life with him. Your life is full of bliss as you marry him and start creating a happy family with him, adding to your children and tranquil life at the castle. You travel outside of it when you are ready but as for now, you live a life with the man who you formerly fought with, the man who turned from enemy to friend, and then to lover and more. Happiness bloomed and, like the feeling of the sun shining down upon you, you were content. 

[ijwrsmff]

OOOOOO Bennett trying to confess to Reader but every time, his bad luck ruins it (maybe gets some help from Razor?)

Word Count: 1,334

@ibby-miyoshi-nerd @monster-scribe-tya

Why why why why why???

Was the question he had to ask himself on repeat. Bennett, the world’s unluckiest boy, was falling. Both literally and romantically. He asked that one word question so many times, at each failed attempt to confess. So he decided to consult one of his best friends. Razor himself. 

Bennett wasted no time in venting about his struggles. “Dude it’s so unfair! The universe hates me! I keep trying to confess to y/n but something always goes wrong!” He flopped down, but slipped even further than planned, only further proving his point when his head hit a rock. 

“Confess? Confess what? Have you done wrongs by y/n?” His head was tilted in confusion, he didn’t think it was in Bennett’s character to do anything to harm another. Maybe it was accidental though…maybe something had happened to his friend. “Is y/n okay?” 

Bennett sighed, and looked over to Razor. “They’re…they’re perfect.” He clutched his hands over his chest with a big smile on his face. Though he realized how odd this might sound to Razor. “I…like y/n. Like a lot.” He opened one eye to see if Razor was comprehending. He wasn’t. 

“As in…I want to hold their hand. Take them wherever in Teyvat they want to go. Be…by their side.” He sighed again, and used his hands to mess up his own hair in frustration. “Why are feelings so difficult?” 

“So you wish to be their mate.” Razor looked as if he figured out a difficult puzzle, but opposingly, Bennett looked so red he might combust at any moment. 

He scrambled up, and waved his hands in front of him. “N-no! Don’t say that! It just…sounds weird.” He set his arms down, and a cloud of rain began to fall. Typical. “I want to be…their boyfriend. Or maybe even just go on a date to see if they like me back!” 

Razor then came up with a plan. Not that Bennett could tell. “I come back. You stay. Must…talk to wolves. For advice.” It was far from subtle, but Bennett didn’t know that. He was so lost in his feelings that he rolled over onto his side and just laid in the mud. He would get sick like that…but chances are he’d get sick even on a beautiful sunny day. 

Razor ran from his den to Mondstat, which admittedly wasn’t that far. He did notice that the sun shined only a few paces towards the city. Weird. It was raining so much at his den. He made a mental note to silently blame Bennett and his bad mood. 

Razor sniffed the air, and found you at the cat's tail. He despised the place, but went in anyways. He located you quickly, and grabbed your arm. “Friend. Come. Bennett sad.” He didn’t waste any time, and began dragging you to his den. 

“Bennett’s sad?” Was all you needed to hear. You cared for him…he was a silly boy. He always made you laugh. It was rare for him to be sad. But how come Razor traveled all this way just to tell you this?

He let go of your arm when he knew you were following, and he nodded. “Yes. Sad. You stay back…” He whispered once you were approaching the big swarm of rain, probably indicating Bennett was there. “Just sit. Listen.” 

He ushered you behind one of the trees, and while confused…you obeyed. You had no idea what Razor was trying to prove, but you trusted him. He knew Bennett well, if silently listening to their conversation could help him somehow, then you’d do it. In a heartbeat. 

Razor approached Bennett, laying on the ground in the mud. He knelt down and poked him, confirming he was alive. “Friend. Up. You get sick.” He nudged him once more, and he stirred. 

“Leave me in the mud.” It was almost funny, but you knew in his tone and body language that something was wrong. You wanted to run out from behind the tree to comfort him, but you had to see this out before jumping in. Who knows…maybe he didn’t want you to help him. 

“Why sad?” Razor asked, and glanced over at you as he helped Bennett stand, Razor facing you and Bennett’s back to you. 

Bennett groaned loudly, and fell limp in Razor’s arms. “You know why! I just wanna be with them…” He eventually stood fully, and looked up at the sky, towards the rain clouds that were only growing darker. 

Who was ‘them’? Did he…have a crush? The way he said it made it sound romantic. How could you try and pursue him when he had someone else on his mind? It made you want to run away from here.

“I tried asking them out by standing on a chair to make myself look bigger and stronger, but I fell flat on my face!” Wait a second…that sounded familiar. “Then when we were watching the thunderstorm I turned to kiss them and I got struck by lightning!” This didn’t just sound familiar…it was familiar. These are scenarios that happened between the two of you. 

“Then I tried to skip the theatrics and take them to Liyue but I got lost and couldn’t find them!” Now you’re certain. The person he liked…was you. These were supposed to be…confessions? 

You hid behind the tree so Razor couldn’t see your beet red face, and covered your hand with your mouth. He liked you! He really liked you! After all this time of thinking he was oblivious to the concept of romantic love, it turned out he was trying to be with you the whole time. 

“Y/n. Show.” Razor spoke, and Bennett looked confused when you circled the tree to face him. His face went pale first, and then pink…then a deep shade of red. He had been caught. 

“W-w-w-w-wait! This isn’t how you were supposed to find out!” He ran up to you, looking frazzled, and spoke quickly, “How did you know where I was? Were you li-” 

“Bennett.” You spoke, trying to interrupt his rant. It didn’t work. 

“-stening the whole time? Oh gods what did I even say? Was it embarass-”

“Bennet.” 

“-ing? What have I done! I probably just ruined our friendship, I’m so-”

“BENNETT!” If speaking in a normal tone wouldn’t work, you’d have to talk over him. Which is exactly what you did, and even chuckled a bit when he went silent mid-sentence. 

“I like you too.” It was simple, but effective. All three parties went silent. Wait three…? Where did Razor go? He must have left to give the two of you space…

“Y-You do?” He whimpered, almost as if he was scared this was a prank of some kind. He looked away from you, but then still found himself too embarrassed. He covered his face with both hands. 

If he wasn’t going to be confident in this, you would have to be. Although the redness of your face, and uncertainty in your eyes told a different story. 

You took both of his hands, and carefully removed them from his face. When he looked straight at you, he closed his eyes tightly. He was…so scared of rejection. This poor boy…who you were falling for didn’t think he deserved your love. You would have to prove him wrong. 

“Really. I mean it.” And you leaned forward, kissing the bridge of his nose, of which the bandaid had fallen off long ago. 

He was the first to notice that the rain had stopped. And a small beam of light came through, hitting the trees above your heads. For the first time in a while…things were looking up. He was filled with hope. 

Hope that you meant it. Hope that you won't leave him. Hope…that he could continue to fall in love with you. He was glad that he had you, and you mirrored that feeling. 

“To the ‘bright’ future ahead of us.” He said, looking up at the beautiful sky. 

[kooldewd123]

Okay, I wanna talk about the Pokemon anime for a second, because the way they've been treating the dub has been increasingly ridiculous and I need a place to vent about this and maybe try to spread awareness?

Long post, kinda rambly, sorry.

So I think most Pokemon fans are at least tangentially aware of some of the dub's problems. I know it definitely got some attention back when XY blew up and started getting attention outside of the usual anipoke sphere. You probably expect me to start talking about the soundtrack replacement here, but the much bigger issue at the moment is actually the release delay. Generally speaking, the English dub tends to release about 3-4 months behind the original Japanese release (XY actually had a good streak with only a 2-month gap up until the start of XYZ). It's not good, especially considering the standard set by Funimation for other popular weekly anime dubs, but at least it's consistent and we learned to just live with it. The Japanese episodes would release, the English side of the company would pretend they didn't exist, and English-speaking viewers either had to seek out fansubs or dodge spoilers for a couple of months. However, this situation has gotten much, much worse as of late.

The latest series, Pokemon Journeys (JN for short), aired its dub on Netflix. Netflix of course did its usual thing and released the series in batches every few months for people to binge. This is a problem for two reasons: First, JN just isn't a particularly bingable show. Due to the timeslot it originally aired in in Japan, the show is more episodic than any that came before, even the famously "slice-of-life" Sun & Moon. It works well in bit-sized morsels every week, but there's not usually enough connective tissue to feel satisfied consuming it all at once. Secondly, it destroyed the consistency I mentioned before. Instead of getting a new episode every week, we would get 12 episodes every few months, purely at the whim of whenever the hell Netflix decided to release them. It started out fine-ish, with about three month windows between releases to match the three months' worth of episodes each batch contained, but as the series went on, we started to see windows of four or five months between releases, inflating the dub delay problem to ridiculous levels. Today, June 23, the penultimate batch of episodes released, containing the grand finale of the Masters Tournament, where Ash defeated Leon to win the World Coronation Series. If you read that sentence and thought "huh, didn't that happen a while ago?" you would be correct. It aired in Japan all the way back in November, eight months ago. The first episode of the batch, Ash vs. Steven, is nearly an entire year old, first airing in July.

"Well," you might be thinking, "you said earlier that the English side of the company doesn't acknowledge the Japanese episode releases. If someone managed to completely avoid any news about the Japanese episodes, it's not as if they would get spoiled by the official English Twitter account, right?"

Right?

Note the timestamp there (I'm in EST). Not only did they release this Tweet on the same day the finals aired, they did it as soon as the episode finished. Even for the people who followed the Japanese releases and watched the episode with fansubs or even raw, this is so early in the morning for most of the English-speaking audience that anyone who didn't get up early enough to watch the episode live could potentially be spoiled from it. Granted, the Internet was ablaze with spoilers regardless, but the official account joining in on the spoilers when the people it's supposed to be advertising to have no way of officially watching the episode certainly isn't a good look. Surely they wouldn't do it again, right?

Right?

Following Ash's departure from the anime, the next series was called Pokemon Horizons (HZ). One of its core story hooks is a mysterious pendant worn by one of the main characters, Liko. In the two-part debut, the mystery deepened when the pendant activated, transforming into a never-before-seen Pokemon that the English Twitter account again highlighted, taking the wind out of the sails of what was supposed to be a really cool and exciting surprise.

At the time of me writing this, not only is there no news about when HZ will be officially available for a western audience, but the JN dub still hasn't even finished yet, and likely won't until Netflix decides it's time to drop the final batch of episodes in a few months.

And the weirdest part of all this? From the way they've been treating HZ, it feels to me like they want to bring the Japanese and English sides of the anime closer together, and maybe Netflix fucking up the release schedule beyond recognition ruined their plans. Both of the Twitter incidents show implicit recognition that there is a portion of the English audience following the Japanese release. And when they announced that Ash would be leaving the anime and HZ would take his place, they did so through a video with Japanese audio and official English subtitles, with a later HZ trailer even specifically mentioning the Japanese release date (both of these videos releasing on the English YouTube channel, mind you). Most of the HZ cast have names that remain the same or only slightly changed between languages (highly unusual for this series), even extending to side characters like Anne or Alec. So now we're stuck in this weird limbo situation where the anime feels like it's trying to be more accessible to the West, while in reality being the most disconnected it's ever been. I'm super curious to see if/how the HZ dub will try to amend this issue whenever it inevitably comes out, and where the marketing goes from here. HZ has me more excited about the future of the anime than JN ever did, and I truly hope the dub can live up to it.

I don't remember exactly what the point I was trying to make at the start of this is. Just please fix this shitty distribution situation Netflix got you in, TPCi.

[justkeepwalkingnothinghere]

1 year. 1 year. Wow. Has it really been that long? Has it really been that long since The Owl House bid us farewell? Since the final "Byeee!" that was heard 'round the world? We learnd the story of The Collector, we saw Luz die and get revived, we met Papa Titan. That night, every last one of us got the opportunity to witness Luz, Eda, King and Raine all come together to kick Belos's ass and take him down once and for all. We all watched as every last character came together to build a brighter future for the Boiling Isles. It was an emotional night for everyone. All of that was 1 year ago. And it's hard for me to believe. It doesn't feel real.

To this day, I can still recall how my night went. My parents were at my aunt and uncle's wedding. Adults only, small ceremony in their backyard, I could understand. Only problem is that it left me with no other option but to stay at home, alone with my thoughts, dread, worry and fear over the finale as the minutes ticked by. Waiting until the world would say byeee to a show like no other. At 5 in the afternoon, what would become the most emotional night of my life began with me going to my music, and listening to Lacrimosa on loop for 45 minutes. I listened as I went through Reddit, Tumblr, Discord, YouTube, seeing everyone get ready to watch the finale that I don't think anyone was ready for. I made one last post here wishing everyone good luck before I cut myself off from Tumblr for the rest of the night, not wanting to get any spoilers, as I was waiting until Easter morning to watch it myself. I decided to watch a bit of YouTube to maybe clear my mind and cheer me up, especially once I saw Zeez Vov Gee's TOH video contest was up. I had made a submission of my own, so I was excited to find out if mine had made it in (it did not, sadly). By the time I had finished watching, it was 8:20. 5 minutes away from air time. So, I said good luck to some friends in a TOH Discord I'm in, muted said server until the morning, and was about to switch to watching something else, as YouTube was also a no go. Until a farewell video appeared in my feed. I watched it, being met with the chorus of the song "As The World Caves In".

And I watched it again. And again. And again. One last viewing, this time singing along to the chorus in the literal seconds before the finale aired. A fitting event that was unintentionally timed to perfection. Couldn't have given a better last second send off if I wanted to. For nearly the entirety of the finale's runtime, I listened to the full song on loop, singing along, crying at the thought of getting a hug from Luz as it was really the only thing I wanted then, doing literal shots of milk, sitting and walking while everything swirled within me. Before long, it was past 9, and I hadn't eaten dinner. Stouffer's meatloaf and mashed potatoes. And you wanna know what I did? I ate it while venting to this claymation mouse. Just the two of us, enjoying our meals. For a bit, it felt like that mouse was listening as he chomped down on his chocolate. It was oddly nice. I at least got a break from my anxiety. Turning to dessert, a mini double chocolate bundt cake while watching 30 Rock and drawing glyph doodles, a pleasure that lasted for a short while before my parents made their eventual return. At 11 o'clock at night.

But my entertainment wasn't over just yet. After cleanup, I still had one last thing up my sleeve. I laid on my bedroom floor, in the dark, with my phone brightness turned all the way up. Caramelldansen played through my headphones as the strobe lights danced on the ceiling, getting in one last silent breakdown before heading to bed. My night had concluded after many hours of nothing but dread and anxiety, me constantly trying to keep myself sane. My parents and I had McDonald's for breakfast the next morning, witnessing a masterpiece of animation. And I was happy at the end! Belos was dead, the coven system erradicated, everyone was at the best places in their lives! It was peace and love in the Boiling Isles! How could I not be happy about that? Unfortunately, the joy wouldn't last long. Things settled in soon enough. At first, it felt like the show wasn't over yet. It felt like there were still some stories to tell. But the reality set in before I knew it and I was left sad. I kept thinking about how much the show meant to me, to many. All it had done for me in the handful of months that I had known it. I still wasn't ready for it's end.

Nowadays, a year later, I still haven't fully recovered. This time around feels a bit dark. My 2024 has been nothing but a mess so far, although I am getting through it. But with such a stark contrast to where I was last year, I can't help but feel like things are too different. Almost like a royal fallen from grace. Life in itself hasn't felt the same since Watching and Dreaming. I can't bring myself to watch it again. Today feels weird, and I'm probably not alone. Wherever your emotions stand on this anniversary, just rememeber this:

Us weirdoes have to stick together.

[ghostmaldo]

Imagine you favorite#1

It just snowed here and I’m feeling in a certain mood. I couldn’t pin this on a single character so I just wrote something you can imagine whoever you want with 💙

Not proof read 🤷‍♀️

Imagine with your favorite…

Playlist listened to during the writing process: https://youtu.be/0PobqJyfioQ?si=PtA6LoD4yQp6IDa3

-A winter storm has rolled into town covering everything in a powdery white substance. Your toes and the tips of your fingers have been cold since the early morning when you had to kiss you love goodbye while they went off to do work (whatever that may look like in this universe).

- You keep yourself occupied throughout the day. Either by reading a book, catching up on the latest news or episode. Prehaps doing some work for a small business or doing the work from home thing. Sending text back and forth with them every so often. The hours somehow wither by and now its time to start preparing dinner for when you love arrives home.

-The snow is still slowing falling, whirling around small crystals through the air outside. Theres still a cold nip along your shoulders. But the warmth of the stove helps ease it.

-You don’t notice when the keys turn in the lock or when the door opens. To absorbed in whatever task is at hand. It isn’t until a gasp leaves your lips as cold hands wrap around your waist and an even colder faces buries itself into your warm neck. Though you welcome it fondly. Tilting your head back to be closer to your love.

-Without untangling from each other. You both go through the day since the morning time. Venting about the days woos and finding comfort in each others presence. Dinner soon becomes placed on the table along with a warm drink. Theres a comfortable silence while the warm meal is enjoyed.

-Prehapes your love suggest a movie and of course you eagerly agree. After a warm bubble bath and a change into warm pjs. Blankets are brought out of the bedroom, as many as deemed nessecary. The lights are turned down and the glow of the tv and the touch of your love is all you need to end the night. Cuddled up and warm in each other’s arms as the snow blows out outside. Sharing a few kisses in between to remind the other their love.

-Once the move ends. Your love insists on carrying you into bed. A few giggles and laughter shared along the way. Snuggled up for the night. You whisper to your love how much they mean to you. And they do the same. Sharing one last passionate kiss in the dark before drifting off into dream land. Inter winding your legs together with him as if you might lose him in the sea of your shared bed. But still they bring you closer. As if they might fear the same.

-It’s a peaceful night in a winter wonderland.

-And tomorrow is another day with your love ❤️

[1llus1on1st]

since i haven’t posted any art (let alone original characters) in a while, here

have some robots

From left to right, they’re Neal Dancer (He/Him), Dr. Malthouse (Any but prefers gender neutral pronouns), and 2Q6 (She/They).

Neal Dancer (DANCER-N34.L) could’ve been a superhero in a different life under different circumstances, but his now peaceful environment ended up turning him into a giant goofball with the ability to shoot miniature chakrams from his wrists. A war machine after a war serves no purpose… therefore, Neal is beholden to absolutely nothing and no one.

His personality is cattish: He’s the kind of guy who’ll somehow manage to climb on top of your fridge and jokingly tell you to fuck off when you tell him to get down, only getting down once you’re out of eyeshot. And he’ll laugh and laugh and laugh, because he’s fun loving to a degree that could be very easily mistaken for hedonism.

He’s the most human out of the cast, a human brain being entirely intact inside of his head. He enjoys the company of his friends, and ultimately means no harm to anyone… but he is quite prone to accidentally harming others, which is where Dr. Malthouse comes in.

Dr. Malthouse (69266-APP-COMFORTERM4) is a machine that was initially designed as a replacement for a war medic (APP stands for Ares-Panacea Project), and it retains the ability to heal others through both medical and mental aid. The metal parts of Malthouse are covered in little compartments and drawers filled with medical tools, an amount comparable to a first aid kit the size of a briefcase.

The bubbly stuff is not metal. It’s a gel that is plush as skin and is warmed by the surrounding wiring to a skinlike warmth. It differs from skin by the fact that it’s perfectly smooth, translucent with large air bubbles suspended inside it, and changes color based on Malthouse’s emotions (The default is turquoise, with red for anger, orange for curiosity, yellow for happiness, green for sadness, and purple for fear).

The emotion chart is handy to have because Malthouse can’t visibly emote any way else. Its movements are robotic and its mouth is painted on. Its voice is similarily unexpressive, being a gentle but still very robotic text to speech voice, but it makes up for that by speaking with a romantic eloquence, a poem in every sentence longer than 2 words.

If you’re having stress-induced sleeplessness, it’ll let you rest your head in its thighs and it’ll read you a bedtime story to help you forget about the world long enough to drift off to sleep. If you need to cuddle, it’ll let you bury yourself into its gel and pet you like a cat. If you just need to vent, it’ll listen to every word you have to say. It was ultimately designed to comfort, and it’s very good at it.

Malthouse and Neal are good friends, despite what could be seen as opposite personalities on the surface. But both of them are creatures of humor, and Malthouse will be the first to tell you that the fact that it has a clown wig made out of the same stuff as its skin is absolutely hilarious.

2Q6 (SunValleyCasino–2176) was initially built to work at a casino, serving a role not dissimilar to a Jollibot at a Jollibee’s. The casino shut down due to multiple scandals, and the robots there were all essentially thrown in the dumpster with its closing. 2Q6 woke up again.

It’s a rare sight to see 2Q6 not in a good mood. This is majorly facilitated by the fact that she no longer has any responsibilities. Neal finds a kindred spirit in them; both of their hearts are as free as the wind. 2Q6 is mildly offput by Neal’s seemingly endless supply of weapons designed to kill and/or maim, but she ultimately understands Neal’s situation and ignores it.

In terms of exceptional abilities, their left forearm has a card shuffler in it, but compared to Neal’s quasishurikens and Malthouse’s reputation as an entire hospital on legs, 2Q6’s laden talent is harder to pinpoint. She’s ultimately determined that their exceptional ability in the group is her ability to use her screen face as a makeshift television/computer monitor, and is therefore fully capable of running DOOM, unlike Neal whose screens are only capable of displaying his facial expressions and Malthouse whose closest thing to a screen is a heartbeat monitor.

They claim that the panel on her chest covers a compartment with a little hamster on a wheel that powers their body. Whether this is true I have absolutely no idea.

[tremendouskoalachild]

list of everything i didn't like about avatar: the way of water

(sorry avatar head mutuals, love you guys but i have very little positive to say about it)

(this is just me venting because i have Thoughts in my head and nobody i know irl has seen it. i wanna enter the new year with a cleansed mind i guess)

(for context i saw it because i had an opportunity to see it for free and went, fuck it. i am not a fan of the first film and haven't seen it since 2010. i also do not vibe with james cameron movies in general)

ruins the any day now meme by actually coming out :(

is an hour longer than it needs to be and two hours longer than it should be. i get that it's about the experience and all but pretty blue people admiring majestic creatures does, in fact, get old eventually

james cameron can't help himself i guess. the amount of underwater exploration scenes is borderline masturbatory, not to mention the whole finale taking place on a sinking ship

please tell me they didn't use the actual papyrus font for the subtitles. idk how noticeable it is in the original but watching the film subtitled is painful until you get desensitized to it

colonialism is apparently not enough to make us root against the humans. no we gotta show them gleefully murder a space whale momma (who composes music 🥺🥺) and her baby

the fact that the destruction of nature is treated as more heinous than the attempted genocide of the na'vi (who are pretty transparently stand ins for native americans) is to be expected from the franchise... i still hate it though.

bad guy lady disappears like midway through. and i had such high hopes for her after she was shown using her mech suit arm to drink coffee. slay queen

for such a ruthless piece of shit (affectionate) the main bad guy doesn't know what to do with a hostage. buddy you could have ended the fight like four separate times. you even had redundancy because they always manage to capture several kids at once 😭

the character accused by every video essayist alive of being a white savior wears dreadlocks now. idk kinda tone deaf if you ask me

the decision to just have the Na'vi speak english is cowardly as fuck. didn't you guys make a fully functional conlang for the first movie??

it also makes it more difficlut to tell what language is being spoken in various scenes. literally what is going on and who understands whom

neytiri was done dirty. barely present most of the film and underdeveloped.

even though the original movie apparently fucked over the hired composers i can't deny that its music fucked. can't remember a single melody from the sequel though

main villain being able to commune with nature without any self-reflection sucks ass. you could say he just subdued the flying thing through it comes back later and is apparently loyal so what was that

the spider situation is really weird. his adopted family don't really seem to care about his abduction much (was jake sully being more literal than i realized when he called spider basically the family's stray cat?? idk neytiri sure doesn't seem to give a fuck about him). the weirder thing though is how he is not restrained or even really supervised while captured despite being open about his loyalties

not to out myself as a space racist but i couldn't tell the two brothers apart until like halfway through at which point one got a lot more spotlight and it became clear the other was done for. rip son number 2 i literally don't remember your name

does this decanonize the avatar theme park 🥺 (this is a joke. all i know about the park is from that one jenny nicholson video and the lore does not seem all that good)

the love interest girl's character is said like once or twice in the whole movie. i was listening for it since i was crushing on her (because neytiri is barely in the movie)

there are multiple instances of a boat being thrown into the air and none of them look real

i swear they say "four fingers" when they mean five at some point. yeah i'm reaching here

the plot is paper thin and so many of the situations are incredibly basic

[miriamundertale]

Skate-Leading Stars, The Bane of my Fucking Existence

I've partially wanted to talk about this anime for a while, but after Confirmation that it's real and I haven't been fucking hallucinating it, I think now is likely a better time than ever to uh, Discuss this weird ass show. Skate-Leading Stars was first revealed to me while working on a separate whole project (My attempt to watch every anime where Hiroshi Kamiya voices a main character) and saw it as the main currently airing show that he was voicing a character in. Unfortunately for me, the thought that formed was "oh sweet, this is a currently airing one I could watch this as it airs," not realizing the two fucking year long brainworm I was about to nourish. As a precursor, I need to make clear I'm going to be jumping around in focus a lot. moreover, this is NOT a review, i just want to vent about something that's been taking over my mind. there is a LOT of weird shit going on with this anime that I'd like to at least cover so if I leave something hanging for a bit, I will get back to it at some point.

Spoilers for Skate-Leading Stars, Your Lie In April

What the fuck is Skate-Leading?

Have you ever watched like, a sport, a game, or some other activity (Including Single player ones!) and just wanted to add people to it for no fucking reason? like, "What if chess was 5 people on each side per board deliberating every action while really hoping nobody else listens in" tier shit. That's the main premise of Skate-Leading. It's a sport where 5 anime boys do figure skating all at once in a formation together. The obvious concerns about safety are not even mentioned and the idea of "how do you even judge this on a regional level well without a LOT of judges" is settled by having the numbers be put up as a box that they say is an AI judging it. a core plot point is the One Interesting Character figuring out how the AI works in his gamer cave and gaming it.

Your first bit of confusion you may encounter with that premise is of course "isn't there already pair skating as an actual real sport one could use for the drama of multi-person skating?" or maybe "doesnt this mean this just a more fucked up yuri on ice?" which to me are both great questions, with only the first easily answered with a Yes. Yuri on ice is the obvious comparison for what SLS is attempting to draw from here, given you have seen literally anything about yuri on ice and the timing of the two shows, but you need to understand that the figure skating is a bait. the yaoi is the point but is bait in regards for understanding this plot. they're not trying to do Yuri on ice. They're trying to do Your Lie In April.

Let's Talk about the OP (Updated info in final paragraph)

For some fucking reason that I originally credited to COVID delays, half the fucking OP is black screens.

I don't think anything of it is especially standout aside from that, while SLS has many weaknesses the OP isnt one of them. Unfortunately it's not anything to write home about either, so I don't want anyone else to feel like we're truly missing out when I reveal the fact that as far as I can tell the OP was censored for the western release. I'm operating on my own anecdotal evidence and what is one of my two current white whales (the other that isn't about to be mentioned is the Japanese dub of Batman Vs Superman) so if my theorizing here is completely incorrect than that's Fine. Thats Fine. About a month into watching the show while it was airing, the half black OP started to get to me. I wanted to see more, try and get to the bottom of it, and eventually managed to find the full uncensored version uploaded which remained up for about two weeks before disappearing. I know that the version we can find online is fucking censored. I have no idea why. once again, so little people I know have any knowledge about this show aside from me, let alone have talked about it. I cannot find anything online talking about the OP aside from light mentions in the comments of the Crunchyroll upload sandwiched between Jesus Bots.

While spending a pathetic amount of time delaying this, I actually in fact have been sent proof of the uncensored OP existing. from anything I could tell or from what the friend who sent this from me could tell, the entire reason is something involving covid delays (Confirming my original suspicion, at least!) making them rush out the international version before the broadcast version, thought the delay wasn't that huge? its still definitely a mystery to me that haunts me a little but at least I know it Exists.

Since I've spent enough time talking about not the plot I think its a good time to address the whole Your Lie In April thing

What the Fuck do you Mean Its Trying to do Your lie In April??

Your lie in April, if you haven't seen it, is a story about dealing with grief, parental abuse and falling in love again with your passions even after loss. it's a very rough anime to sit through emotionally, and while its very much a show i have mixed feelings about personally, it's still a very well written example of its genre. Skate-Leading Stars spends has the main character parallel Kousei Arima's (The Main character of Your Lie in April) very basic arc of a teenager getting back into the area he used to be a prodigy in as a child, any forms of subtly or trauma have been entirely replaced with as many meatheaded brash qualities as they can in order to fit the true BL purpose of the story. Instead of having the love interest heavily foreshadowed to die being someone who views said passion in an entirely different light than him as a way to work through trauma and difficulty handling the act of playing piano again, the love interest is a mysterious boy who's using him to try and get back at his brother. Skate-Leading Stars, unabashedly, apes the format and ideas of Your Lie in April, barely understanding anything else going on, and uses it for a bl anime about a sport that is at best impossible to judge and realistically physically dangerous to exist.

Ok now what?

I don't think its necessary to do a plot summary of SLS, partially because I don't want to, but mostly because who fucking cares. I love bad shows, and while the start of the show is undeniably strong in its garbage it goes nowhere with anything. It spends a large amount of its time as a story setting up beats that never pay off, having loud yaoi boys yelling constantly, or underusing Hiroshi Kamiya. There IS a manga I could read for the rest of the story that's likely been playing out, but since only the first chapter is translated I don't see any reason to examine it too closely. If you want to watch gay ice skating anime, Yuri on ice is talked about for a reason. if you want to watch bad anime with Hiroshi Kamiya Ultimate Otaku Teacher exists. If you have read the manga please tell me if Sasugai actually has some sort of fatal disease or they're just aping the framing from Your Lie in April without meaning again.

[shaddy24]

So, going to put additional details about the specific games under a read more, since I have some people who haven't played these specific scenarios yet and I may still run it for them in the future. If you're interested in playing one of my horror one shots, don't read under here!

Scenario 1

The very first one I did was pretty freeform. The PCs had all been placed under arrest (they got to define their own crime) and were placed in a prison carriage to be brought to a large city for punishment. Everyone coincidentally made a spellcaster, so they were not only manacled, but had all their fingers immobilized to prevent them from using somatic components, and gagged to prevent verbal. On the way, there were suddenly sounds of a horrific battle outside the carriage, the door was bashed enough that it started opening during the fight, but fortunately nothing came in. Once everything went quiet, they exited to find all the guards slaughtered, and the captain (who'd carried the keys to their manacles) was missing his body from mid-chest down. There were signs of things having been dragged off to the nearby forest, so they followed, a few players managing to partially free themselves, but most were still heavily restrained. The session itself was me largely riffing off of what they found, like a pack of wolves grazing on grass in a clearing, before a herd of deer ambushed and killed some of them, or the trail circling in on itself impossibly and opening up new areas. They wound up stumbling across essentially a battle between extraplanar powers, two different demons (one possessing a sword they found deep in the forest, one possessing a party member) and an aberration (which possessed a different party member), and they all wound up dying in the midst of that conflict. The last living character (a sorcerer) fled, only to be chased down and impaled by the possessed sword, which started trying to take over her body and soul. So she shocking grasped the sword stuck through her body, killing herself accidentally and defeating the demon which was binding itself to her.

Scenario 2

The next major scenario is a murder mystery. The players are given the victim, and give me their motive for killing him and the method they'd use to do so while visiting his manor. The game starts with everyone in the manor getting alerted to the victim's death by way of a magical contingency system he had in place. The entire manor is locked down, doors and windows sealed, and a programmed illusion in the main hall warns everyone to not try to leave, as the authorities have been alerted and are on their way. The stated goal I gave the players before the session was that I'd choose which of them commit the murder and place the body in the house, but they wouldn't know who did it until the body is found, at which point it turns into one player trying to cover up the murder while the others solve it. For this, I disallow the use of Insight, as otherwise that just breaks the concept.

In actual fact, the victim had a pact with a demon, and now his ghost and the demon are fighting to kill more characters to determine what happens to the guy's soul. Reality is warped thanks to the demon's approach, and every murder method has been played out at once, leaving one body per player scattered around the house. I just roll a dice pool for each the ghost and the demon every arbitrary unit of time (10 minutes to an hour in game, depending on what sort of things the players are up to). If I roll any 6's, the appropriate creature gets to do something to try and kill people. I have a big list for each, from attempting to possess a character, to setting off a trap, to turning a room into a deathtrap (the panic room seals itself and vents out the air, turning into a vacuum), to animating an object to attack, to unleashing a horde of unseen servants given the ability to attack. As the night goes on, the dice pools get larger, increasing the chances of a 6, and multiple 6's up the power of the murder attempt. These supernatural attacks didn't have to follow the regular game rules for the most part. The ghost at one point just started creating new traps in areas the players had already been through, meaning that no where was safe. The players have to figure out which of the murders is the actual real one (while every character remembers committing their murder, the others are fabrications pulled from the character's mind and have some kind of clue that it's not real), uncover the demon's true name (bits of its name appear over places it's interacted, so you have to investigate spots where it's attacked you from), and perform a ritual using the real body to banish the demon and ghost. Of course, they also have to find all of this information before getting killed.

I've played this one once last year in 5e for Halloween. That one ended with 2 deaths, and 2 unconscious and one conscious survivor. I tried to do a Pathfinder 2e version this year, but couldn't get a big enough group. Only 3 people available, and one got sick the day off. Planning to try again later this month.

Scenario 3

The last one I played this year uses Father Llymic from the Elder Evils book as the base for the scenario. The players go up into a snowy, low mountainous area of several villages looking for a lost merchant. They found themselves being stalked by Father Llymic's brood, who would repeatedly attack to infect the party members with Brood Fever. The characters were level 5, and I set this as a level 8 disease, making it extremely difficult to resist with a high save DC. It also inflicted the drained condition, which causes a stacking penalty to Fortitude saves, which is what you roll to resist the disease. Reaching 5 ranks of drained results in you transforming into another brood spawn. The disease couldn't be magically cured or the drained condition reduced unless the attempt was made in natural sunlight, which was a bit difficult with the heavy snowstorms going on. Father Llymic also appeared to them in the form of an elderly elf, trying to lure them deeper into the mountain. Seeing him would afflict them with a level 8 curse, requiring a Will save and getting the stupified condition on a failure, which penalizes Will saves. At a high level of stupified, they fall under Llymic's control. The various villages in the area are also being affected by this, with many of the villagers either under Llymic's control, deeply diseased by brood fever, or both. The deeper they go following the merchant's trail, the worse off things get.

So they were trying to hunt down this merchant while themselves being hunted by monsters, constantly exposed to a disease and a curse that would create death spirals. This one played a bit more by the rules than the other two, aside from unleashing those unfair conditions the monsters were actually fairly weak, and while they had to deal with the bad weather making things more difficult while the brood could ignore both the difficult terrain and the concealment provided by the snow, they weren't the major threat for the most part. Instead, it was all about the death spiral, which ended with 2 characters dead (caused by a fight when one player fell under Llymic's control), 2 transformed into brood spawn, and 1 fully under Llymic's control. No survivors. I am also planning another swing at this one with a different group, moving a few of the locations a bit to change the order in which the players encounter things, but keeping the same setup and intention.

I apologize if this is unwanted, but I thought you might find this interesting. I actually really enjoy doing horror one shot games with systems like D&D and Pathfinder specifically because the rules are so intense and not technically built for horror. Specifically, I like the setup of having the players be heavily restricted by the rules that their characters have to follow, while the monsters and scenario are blatantly and intentionally unfair. Not to the absolute extreme, I don't drop the tarrasque on a level 2 group, but monsters will often break rules to act in unpredictable or uncounterable ways, and the environment will be extremely hostile and force them to really struggle. For this Halloween, I had a Pathfinder 2e game where I dropped an overpowered curse and an overpowered disease on the party, designed to set up death spirals as each stage of the curse and disease made saving against the next one harder, and put limitations on how they could be cured to make it even harder. I've tried systems actually built for horror, but there's something about taking a d20 fantasy system and using its rules to break and hinder the characters that I just find so much fun. Only for specifically designated horror games though, I don't do that to players as a general thing. They've generally gone over really well so far, people do seem to enjoy the way it works out.

Absolutely not unwanted, this is fascinating to me! And to be honest, while I don't think D&D is perfectly suited to horror, there are parts of it (lethality, its resource depletion death spiral, mechanics that encourage approaching every encounter as a potentially deadly one, it's somewhat process simulationy approach to mechanics) that I do think can contribute meaningfully to horror! The only part that D&D and other D&D-likes don't do well with regards to horror is that they are often (especially in a post-TSR context) very much about player empowerment, which you've addressed by hiding information and breaking some of the assumptions about what is a "fair" encounter.

In my ideal style of running a D&D-like the idea of encounters having to be fair and tailormade for the group's level would be the first thing I scrap. Instead, if you go to the zombie swamp at level 1, your level 1 characters risk catching zombie disease. So, like, the idea of doing away with some of the assumptions of d20 fantasy systems (like the notion that encounters need to be "fair") and just using the rules to present some real danger is very cool to me.

I would very much like to hear more about this if you have details you'd like to share. :)